Fairtrade International joins 4C Association

17 September 2012

Sustainability is a key word in coffee. Growing demand and increasing impacts of climate change are pushing coffee farmers and businesses around the world to increase productivity and quality, while simultaneously caring for the environment.

To that end, Fairtrade International recently became a member of the 4C Association, the global sustainability platform that brings producers, trade and industry representatives, and civil society organisations together to address sustainability issues affecting coffee.

“We joined the 4C Association to continue making sure the voice of small coffee farmers is heard on a global stage,” said Lee Byers, Senior Adviser on Coffee and Tea at Fairtrade International. “We’re looking forward to joining the discussion on topics like climate change adaptation, quality and productivity investments, and more.”

Beyond providing a forum for members, the 4C Association helps coffee farmers and businesses take their first steps toward applying sustainable production practices. The 4C Code of Conduct, a baseline sustainability standard and verification system, is a starting point for producers to build up to more demanding sustainability certifications, such as Fairtrade and others.

“We believe Fairtrade’s global scale, reach and experience of working directly with small coffee farmers for over 25 years can bring an extremely valuable contribution to the 4C Association’s work in broadening sustainability across the sector,” stated Melanie Rutten-Sülz, 4C Executive Director.

Fairtrade International will join other 4C members, such as Rainforest Alliance and Utz Certified, at the organizations upcoming General Assembly at the end of September. For more information on the 4C Association, please visit their website.